Iran Launches First Satellite

Iran last night sent its first domestically built satellite into orbit, the BBC reports, timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of its revolution. The program's aims are peaceful, said state TV, with the satellite intended for research and telecommunications. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said it was meant to promote “monotheism, peace, and justice” in the world. Western countries, meanwhile, worry that Iran is working on a nuclear weapon.
(More Iran stories.)